


alright alright it's a hell of a feeling though

by nunaseaweed



Series: Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time [1]
Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, biana and dex didn't tell anyone they were dating, elwin's the best, keefe and tam are dense, keefe knew though, sorry - Freeform, wylie's dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:48:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29395038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nunaseaweed/pseuds/nunaseaweed
Summary: Suddenly Keefe and Tam felt their wrists burning. They looked down at them. Staring at each other, dumbfounded, they whined, ‘Aw man, you?’
Relationships: Dex Dizznee/Biana Vacker, Keefe Sencen/Tam Song
Series: Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2159292
Kudos: 6





	alright alright it's a hell of a feeling though

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not own Keeper of the Lost Cities, neither do I own the idea of a soulmate AU.  
> Notes:  
> -My first soulmate AU  
> -Basically, all elves are born with a faint outline of a heart on their left wrists. When you are first in the same vicinity as your soulmate, the outline defines itself and becomes darker. When you two share your first words, half the heart gets filled in. When you share your first kiss, it burns and turns into a full heart with your soulmate’s name written underneath the heart in your soulmate’s handwriting. The name will change if your soulmate’s name changes. But the side effect is that once you two have kissed, you have to spend time together. If you stay away from your soulmate too long then it hurts you, a lot. The more you love your soulmate, the less and the less often it’ll hurt. And if your soulmate is hurt, in danger, or just needs you, it’ll hurt. Most elves don't really care though, since they have a really long time to find their soulmates. And because of that, nobody really talks about them.  
> -A couple years after Keefe’s coma, they already took down most of the Neverseen, and just need to capture Vespera.  
> -A world where elves except LGBTQ+ and Lord Cassius is a good guy who made bad choices because of his wife. But Wylie’s dead. Yeah, not all sunshine and rainbows here.

“And here comes the celebratory mallowmelt!” Sophie called, walking into the room with a tray of the gooey cake and an apron wearing Fitz in her wake. 

Fitz had taken to baking a while ago, and Sophie had forced him into a “Mr. Good-Looking is Cooking” apron from the Forbidden Cities, which was modified by Dex into the Enlightened Language. He carried a tray of ripplefluffs, the fifth one to be exact, into the room. 

“You know we’re gonna need more than that right?” Marella reminded, as he set the tray down in the circle of sleeping bags, where the other trays of ripplefluffs, mallowmelt, custard burts, indigoobers, and mugs of cinnacreme. 

Fitz looked quite surprised. “Exactly how much do you think eight teenagers can eat in one night?”

“Not eight teens, seven hard-working teens that just defeated the people that have been screwing up their lives since they were 12, and Sophie Foster,” Marella reasoned.

“Fair enough,” Fitz shrugged. “But I’ll make more once you finish, and I’m taking off the apron.”  
Ignoring Sophie, Keefe and Biana protests, he slipped the apron over his head, flung it onto Sophie’s bed, and flopped down on the sleeping bag next to her. “You were going to play music, right?” Fitz asked her.

“Oh yeah,” Sophie responded before grabbing her iPod. Seconds later  _ Meet You There _ by 5 Seconds of Summer blasted through the speakers Dex had hidden around her room.

“So did you decide on a game to play?” Keefe asked Sophie. She told them that they should play a human game for fun, and well because she’s evil.

“Yup,” Sophie answered, smirking. “Truth or dare.”

Dex immediately dropped his head into his pillow and groaned.

Sophie smiled, “It won’t be that bad.”

Without looking up from the pillow he spoke, “Isn’t that what they say in the human movies? And books? This honestly is gonna end up with someone jumping out the window or in the Healing Center.”

“I won’t deny that, but come on we’ve gotta give it a try,” Sophie pleaded.

“Do we really?” Dex complained.

“If it's gonna half as bad as Dex is making it sound, we have to play,” Keefe decreed, and Marella nodded in agreement.

Dex looked up only to throw his head back down as Sophie clapped her hands and smiled, saying, “I’ll allow a last minute switch if you feel really attacked, and the questioner can’t make it the same thing, like asking ‘who’s your crush?’ and the dare being ‘tell us your crush.’ And no passes.”

Tam joined Dex with his face in his pillow, while Biana commented, “Seems okay.”

And so a couple of minutes later Sophie sat in Fitz’s lap due to Dex being basic as she asked Keefe, “Are you gay?”

Keefe stared at her for a solid minute before stating, “Dare.”

Sophie smirked, “Go to the bathroom and rub toothpaste in your hair.”

“NO!” Keefe yelled, and Linh and Marella laughed. Even Tam managed a smile as he begged, “Can I go back to the truth? I’ll answer truthfully, I swear. Just not the hair, not the hair, Foster!”

Even Fitz was having trouble breathing between laughs as Sophie stated, “Nope, can’t go back now. Toothpaste is on the second shelf.”

Keefe came out of the bathroom with green toothpaste rubbed into his blonde hair looking like he was about to cry. He sat down across from Sophie, glaring as she shook with laughter. Angry and out for revenge, he turned to Biana and asked, “Truth or dare?”

Biana, noticing this, chose what she thought was the safe option, “Truth,”

She realized that she had been wrong as Keefe smiled and didn’t hesitate before asking, “Exactly why did you start a bunch of bracelets on your left arm at the same time as Dex started wearing full sleeves all the time?”

Dex and Biana both visibly paled, but fearing Keefe’s dare, she countered, “Why do you want to know?” Of course, Keefe wanted to expose what he already pretty much knew, that they were soulmates. They didn’t want anyone to know, especially Fitz, so they both took to doing things that they hoped no one would notice. Keefe Sencen managed. But Biana’s question was why exactly, did he feel like exposing them to Fitz?

“That’s not an answer,” Keefe crooned. Fitz was now also looking very intrigued, and Biana felt her cheeks heat up. But she was not going down this way.

“Dare then.”

Keefe seemed satisfied with this answer, and offered, “Fine then, how about you show me? Just me, I won’t expose you.”

Biana stole a look at Dex, who shrugged beside her. Glancing at Fitz to make sure he wasn’t following what Keefe was on about, she turned and quickly rolled up her bracelets and showed Keefe that he had been right, in the form of a full heart with Dex’s name written in Dex’s handwriting underneath it. It was a good thing that elves didn’t really think about their soulmate tattoos often, or she would’ve been screwed.

Keefe smiled at her and Dex, raising his eyebrows. Marella also smiled, leaving Dex to turn as red as his hair. Biana quickly turned to Tam and asked “Truth or dare?” before Fitz could question it.

“Dare,” Tam answered, realizing it was the wrong choice when she immediately turned towards Keefe.

“I dare you to kiss Keefe.”

“Oh come on! I’ve already got toothpaste in my hair, now you want me to kiss the man I’ve spent hating for the past couple of years? Man, you guys really hate me.”

Tam, after thinking long and hard for about two seconds, responded, “You know what? If it makes him unhappy, gladly.” 

Biana stared at him. She was not expecting that to work so easily. “Ok then,” she said, still staring as Tam turned his head towards Keefe, who glared in response.

Everyone had their eyes set on the two enemies as they leaned in, still glaring, and closed the gap between them. Suddenly Keefe and Tam felt their wrists burning. They looked down at them and gasped, clutching their left arms. Staring at each other, dumbfounded, they whined, ‘Aw man, you?’

Biana, Dex and Marella, the first people to realize what they meant, burst out laughing. Marella almost knocked over her mug of cinnacreme as she wheezed, “Soulmates, you two.”

For a solid second Linh, Sophie and Fitz froze in shock, then they joined the others in their laugh-crying as Tam and Keefe cursed themselves. 

Once everyone, Sophie being the last, managed to get themselves together, Tam and Keefe opened their mouths, most likely to tell the others off, but instead let out yelps and grabbed her wrists once more.

Tam wheezed in pain, “What the hell?”

Biana, realizing what was happening, gave them advice, “Wait, scoot closer to Keefe.” He did as told, in too much pain to bother questioning it, and immediately the pain subsided for both Tam and Keefe. They looked up at Biana in wonder as she said, “It’s a side effect of finding your soulmate.”

“Side effect?” Sophie asked. “There’s side effects? Okay, bear with me, but I didn’t even know that soulmates were a thing before I got here, and Fitz didn’t exactly do a great job of explaining it. I just never questioned because nobody ever brings it up.”

“They don’t bring it up because elves live hundreds of years, we have all the time in the world to find our soulmates. So you don't really think about whether or not someone will be your soulmate when you date them,” Marella explained. “Most people don’t find their soulmates for a while, and if they do, like the Vackers for example, they forget the process after being married so long.”

“Okay. Now I’m going to sound really dumb, but what exactly are the tattoos and how do they work?” Sophie asked, bracing herself for the criticism that never came. Instead came a couple minutes of silence of everyone trying to figure out exactly what they were.

Biana jumped to the rescue, breaking the silence. “So as you should know, everyone’s born with the faint outline of a heart on their left wrist. When you first find yourself in the same area as your soulmate, even if you don’t know it, the tattoo defines itself and becomes darker. Then when you two talk to each other for the first time, the tattoo becomes half-full. And after your first kiss, the hearts burn and become full, and your soulmate’s name is written underneath it in their handwriting. Show them.”  
Tam and Keefe reluctantly stretched out their hands to show Sophie their names written on each other’s wrists.

“But some people are born without soulmates, like me.” Marella confessed, showing Sophie her left wrist. It was blank. “Most of them become Councillors. But some councillors still have soulmates and just chose not to find them.”

“Isn’t that selfish though?” Sophie asked.

“No not really. Just because the person you fall in love with isn’t your soulmate doesn’t mean you're doomed. You could still fall in love, and be happy,” Fitz answered.

“That’s what happens to most people who’s soulmates die, like me,” Linh commented, showing Sophie her wrist. The heart had been filled in gray and cracked in two, with Wylie Endal written atop it in what she could assume was Wylie’s writing. Sophie felt a pang of remorse, remembering the day Wylie had died, and she reminded herself that she, Tam, Marella, and Dex were heading to apprehend his killer, Vespera, tomorrow, and end the Neverseen completely. 

“The tattoo heart gets gray and breaks in two, and your soulmate’s name is written on top of it,” Linh finished.

“But there are side effects,” Biana continued. “Once you and your soulmate have kissed, you have to spend a considerable amount of time together, and near each other, or else you feel pain in your wrist and all over your body. From what I’m gathering, the more you love your soulmate, the less and the less often it’ll hurt. But since Tam and Keefe hate each other, it’s gonna hurt a lot, and all the time. It also hurts if your soulmate is in trouble, hurt, or needs you.”

“Well that’s handy,” Sophie commented. 

“Not always! How am I supposed to sleep if my wrist is constantly hurting?” Keefe complained.

“Isn’t it obvious,” Dex concluded, “Next to Tam.”

Keefe and Tam groaned, but the fact that they scooted closer together didn’t go unnoticed by Biana.

“Well where were we? In truth or dare?” Sophie asked.

Dex whipped around so fast he might’ve given himself whiplash as he protested, “NO! You’ve ruined enough people’s lives today Sophie. Why don’t we-” 

Sophie had cut him off saying, “Why Don’t We! Yes, they’re such a good band.” She turned to her ipod and changed the song to  _ These Girls _ .

“-go to sleep?” Dex finished.

Sophie frowned, but declared, “Fine, but I’m not turning off the music.”

“Fine by me,” Marella validated, flopping down onto her pillow. 

“Well I’m gonna go wash the toothpaste out of my hair,” Keefe declared, glaring at Sophie and muttering, “Evil little...” as he walked past. She only smiled.

Ella, Mrs. Stinky Bottom, Mr. Snuggles and Lady Sassyfur came out as everyone got into their sleeping bags, and Keefe came out of the bathroom only minutes later, prompting Fitz to say, “That was quick, you usually take an hour to shower.”

Keefe sighed, “I had to make do with Foster’s only shampoo.”

“Am I supposed to have more than one?” Sophie asked.

“Of course, no wonder you have pineapple hair some days,” Tam replied.

“Wow, I feel attacked,” Sophie joked as they got into their sleeping bags.

A while later, Sophie awoke from what would’ve ended up a nightmare of everything that could go wrong while taking down Vespera the next day, to hear  _ Kill My Mind  _ by Louis Tomlinson playing at what seemed to be 3 A.M. She was about to get up and scoot her sleeping bag closer to Fitz’s, in hopes up ‘accidentally’ waking him up and talking about her nightmare, when she heard hushed whispering. 

“I hate this.”

“Yeah, me too, now suck it up and get over here.”

Scuffling. Silence for a few moments. Then two gasps of pain.

“Okay you're actually kidding me, how much closer can we get?”

“Forget this.” Sophie saw Tam’s bangs glint in the moonlight as he sat up. “Move over.”

“In my sleeping bag?”

“Yes.”

Keefe presumably did as told, because Sophie could see the outline of Tam’s body disappear into a sleeping bag next to his old one.

“Are you a big spoon or a little spoon?” Keefe’s voice rang. Sophie stifled her laughter.

“Are you actually asking that question?”

“I’d like to be comfortable, so yes.”

After a few moments of silence, in which Sophie could assume Tam was glaring, came his reply, “Little.”

The boys voices died away and Sophie tried to go back to sleep, but after seeing Marella’s lifeless body she decided it was useless and headed downstairs to make herself a mug of cinnacreme. Sandor accompanied her, questioned her until she told him of her nightmare, and proceeded to advise, “You're on edge because she’s the last one. You get her and it's over, but usually they have a trick up their sleeve. And I will not deny that there will be a lot to go through tomorrow, but you need to stop thinking about the worst that could happen, and get some rest to prepare for it instead.”

Sophie nodded and headed back upstairs and into her room, but couldn’t find it in herself to go back to her sleeping bag. Instead, she sat by her window, drinking cinnacreme, listening to music and watching the sun start to rise as her friends slept. 

Dex woke up to her putting her mug down and singing softly, “ _ Lonely, it ain’t nothing new. Nothing new to me, nothing new to you _ ...”, and silently removed Biana’s arm from around his waist to get up from his sleeping bag and join her by the window.

“What are you doing? Big day today, shouldn’t you be asleep?” he asked.

Sophie saw an opening for a joke and took it, knowing that he wouldn’t understand, “Sleep? I don't know about sleep! It’s summertime!”

Dex stared at her for a couple of moments before slightly laughing as he confessed, “I worry about you sometimes.”

Sophie smiled ruefully and turned her head to ground as she chuckled, “That’s valid.”

The two quietly laughed, enjoying one another’s company, before Dex asked again, “No but seriously, why are you awake? Nightmare?”

Pursing her lips, Sophie nodded, “Of everything that could go wrong today.” She explained how she had seen him fall off a cliff, Tam’s shadowflux go out of control and attack him, Marella get stabbed, and how she’d returned home a failure only to see Fitz and Biana’s throats slit, Linh and Maruca’s dead bodies by Calla’s tree, Grady, Edaline, Kesler, all of the Council and Collective dead, and Keefe nowhere to be seen.

Dex listened attentively and concluded, “You know that would never happen, right?”

Sophie nodded, “But there’s always a voice in the back of my head telling me that it would. That we got lucky over and over again, and luck won’t last.”

“You’re right, we did get lucky. We lost Wylie, and while that’s horrible, you need to realize that after all these years, we lost Kenric, Forkle number one, and Wylie. Three people, and all that we’ve been through, that’s extremely lucky. But you can’t believe it’ll run out.” Dex explained. “We know what we have to do tomorrow, and we’ll do it. Vespera against you, me, Tam and Marella. We’ll be fine.”

Sophie nodded and gave Dex a hug. “What would I do without you?”

“Nothing, you’d be dead.”

“True.” The two got up and went back to their sleeping bags, letting the piano from  _ They Don’t Know About Us _ by One Direction lull them to sleep.

Marella was first up in the morning, waking up everyone but Tam and Keefe to gaze at them as they slept. Keefe had his arms tucked around Tam’s torso, and Tam was hugging Mrs.Stinkbottom. The tip of Keefe’s nose was hidden behind Tam’s hair.

It was roughly 8 A.M. in Dex’s opinion, and it was way too early to be teasing someone, but then again, Keefe had no limits, so why should they?

Tam, sensing six pairs of eyes on him, cracked open one of his own to see Marella and Linh smile at him, and slid further into the bag. Keefe hadn’t noticed everyone staring, and his reaction for Tam’s sudden disappearance was, “Why’d you leave, it's so cold.”

Dex and Fitz started laughing at him, and immediately Keefe’s eyes opened, and he groaned and flipped his pillow over his head. 

The girls only gazed at Keefe’s pillow, the abandoned Mrs.Stinkbottom, and the lump at the bottom of the sleeping bag that was presumably Tam, before Biana said, “That’s a little...”

“It’s kinda…” Marella also trailed off.

“Just a bit-” Sophie was cut off by Linh.

“Cute though.”

Dex and Fitz erupted into laughter again as Tam curled tighter and Keefe practically tried to suffocate himself. “That’s not fair, we didn’t have a choice,” Keefe complained.

“Think about this way, we don’t have a choice, but to make fun of you,” Biana reasoned.

“Then I don’t have a choice but to kick your butt,” Tam concluded, coming out of the sleeping bag to chase a squealing Biana around Sophie’s room.

She ducked behind Fitz and Dex just before Mr.Forkle opened the door, stating, “I take it you're all awake?”

And just like that, Sophie, Dex, Marella, and Tam were off. Lord Cassius had wanted Keefe at the Shores of Solace to talk to him, so he and Ro headed off, promising to meet everybody at the Healing Center where they would, no doubt, end up at. Linh also headed off to Teirgan’s and Biana and Fitz went home trying not to worry too much.

“I know you kids are worried about Sophie, Dex, Tam and Marella, but I’m sure they’ll be fine, they’ve just got to get Vespera after all. Have some blitzenberry muffins, calm down,” Della soothed as Fitz and Biana came down the stairs.

“Vespera is a lot to take on though,” Biana said, continuing to worry. “Oooh, blitze-“ she cut off with a gasp of pain.

Fitz turned in seconds and grabbed her shoulders to steady her from falling. “Are you okay?”

Biana had her teeth clenched and a hand gripping her left wrist, and barely managed to shake her head. “Imparter,” she croaked.

Fitz took it out from his back pocket. “Keefe,” Biana managed, now with her hands on her chest, struggling to breathe.

Staying as calm as possible, Fitz hailed Keefe. “Hey Fitz, what’s u-“ he started, then caught sight of Biana. His face immediately grew more stern as he asked, “Dex?” Biana only nodded, but Keefe was gone a second later.

“Healing Center,” Biana said faintly, her hands on her forehead like she was going to pass out.

“What’s going on?” Della asked, trying not to worry too much about the fact that her daughter was hunched over in pain for no reason she could fathom.

“I have a good idea, but now is not the time to say I knew it,” Fitz responded as he half carried Biana to the light-leaper. “Grab the muffins and meet us there?”

Della nodded right before they vanished.

The two Vackers trudged through Foxfire, Biana getting slightly better with the sight of Greyfell and Silveny landing beside the healing center, and the unmistakable pop of Sophie’s teleportation. They entered a few minutes afterword, and Biana let out a sigh of relief before sprinting to Dex’s bed, sitting by his legs and holding his hand. The pain had seemingly vanished, and Fitz knew perfectly well why, but as he had stated before, it wasn’t the time.

Della showed up with three trays of blitzenberry muffins right before Elwin told them what was going on with Dex, handing one to a scratched up Sophie, a known stress-eater, one to Marella, Tam, Keefe, and Linh -who had shown up moments after Biana and Fitz-, and one for Fitz, Biana and herself. Biana immediately took the hand that wasn’t holding Dex’s and shoved a whole muffin into her mouth.

“Sophie tells me that Dex was stabbed in the arm,” Elwin began, looking at Sophie who only nodded because, like Biana, her face was full of food. “Well, bad news, the knife was poisoned, good news, I can drain the poison using an antidote. However, he’s also got a concussion so we have to wait until he wakes up to give him the antidote, which will be a couple of hours so unless you’re hurt, I advise you go home and get some sleep.”

Biana looked up at him and stated, “I can’t go.” Then she pulled back the bracelets she’d taken to wearing on her left arm, and confirmed Fitz’s suspicions, showing Elwin a full heart with ‘Dexter Alvin Dizznee’ written neatly beneath it in Dex’s careful handwriting. Out of the corner of his eye, Fitz saw his mother gasp slightly and blink, but other than that and a small smile crawling it’s way onto her lips, she did well hiding her surprise. As for Fitz himself, he had already sort of known, so he just squeezed Biana’s shoulder, letting her know that he didn’t care, and she shouldn’t have hid it for however long she did.

Elwin smiled and told her she could stay, then turned to everyone else and told them, “You lot need to leave later, though, there were enough sleepovers for a lifetime here when Keefe was in a coma. Dex will be awake by morning, so get some sleep.”

He went and got Biana a chair and put it next to Dex’s cot. Biana fell into a light sleep, still holding his hand with her head resting on his chest. She woke up to a slight groan.

Dex opened his eyes slowly, and brought a hand to head saying, “That is a headache.” 

Elwin smiled from where he was making the antidote, and grabbed a bottle of Youth and gave it to drink, stating, “Every single drop.”

He went back as Dex started drinking it. Dex turned to Biana and asked, “Did it hurt a lot?” At Biana’s nod, he apologized.

“Don’t be sorry,” Biana said, cutting him off. “You're alive and that’s what matters.”

Dex nodded, “And she was the last one. The Neverseen’s over. And being completely honest I thought more of us would die.”

Biana chuckled, “Shut up.”

“No I’m just saying, we had a good run.” Dex’s tone turned a little more serious when he questioned, “do they know?”

“Yeah, but they don’t care,” Biana answered. And it didn’t matter, because Dex was right. The Neverseen was over. They were safe. And that was what mattered.

  * ❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•



Keefe woke up happier than he had been in a long time, and that might’ve been because it was the only day since the sleepover that he woke up without someone’s eyes on him. Ro had finally learned to respect his privacy, or more likely, got bored of making him turn pink as Tam disappeared under the sheets. 

But other than peace, he felt something else fluttering around in his stomach, a feeling he was familiar with through Fitzphie moments, but way more enjoyable.

It might’ve had something to do with his hand intertwined with Tam’s against the shorter boy’s stomach. Or the fact the Tam’s hair was almost softer than his own when it brushed against his nose. Or how he noticed Tam clung to Mrs.Stinkbottom the same way Keefe used to. Or how peaceful Tam looked asleep. 

Keefe couldn’t help but smile with content. The Neverseen was over. Quiet mornings just like this from now on. And he had a feeling he wouldn’t mind the shade in his bed.

He didn’t notice that he had fallen back asleep until Tam’s hand ripped softly out of his own a couple hours later, as if it didn’t want to go. Keefe opened his eyes and saw Tam walking toward the bathroom. “What time is it?” he groaned, rubbing his eyes.

“Half-past noon. You slept in Sencen,” Tam’s response came.

Keefe dug his face out of his pillow to shoot back, “So did you So- Bangs Boy. Quite comfortably I can tell.” He waved Mrs.Stinkbottom in the air.

Tam glared at him, “Nice catch.”

Keefe grinned, “Of course.” Tam smiled in response.

It did things to Keefe’s heart, and before he could ask himself why Tam spoke again, “I’m going to go see Linh and then stay at Teirgan’s, you coming?”

“I’d love to, but I had plans for crashing Foster’s sleepover today.”

Tam smirked. “Okay. Have your fun. See you later.”

“See ya.” Keefe found himself sitting on his bed smiling like a dork at his door minutes after Tam left when Ro came back in. 

“Your boyfriend left already?” she asked, plopping down in a chair in the corner of her room.

“Yea he did,” Keefe responded before realizing what she said. His head whipped around to where she was sitting painting her nails as he quickly reminded her, “He’s not my boyfriend!”

Ro looked at him for only a moment before going back to her nails. “You sleep in the same bed, and you’re soulmates. Not to mention the lovey doves stares when the other isn’t looking.”

“What are you talking about?!” Keefe exclaimed. He couldn’t like Tam. Could he? They were sorta enemies. And soulmates. But that couldn’t change anything, could it?

Ro rolled her eyes at him, “Don’t be a Sophie, Hunkyhair. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

He honestly didn’t. But he wasn’t going to admit that to her. So instead he walked towards his closet to change and let her know that they were going to Sophie’s.

“Where did Tam go?” Lord Cassius asked as they walked to the Leapmaster. He had been surprisingly supportive of Keefe and Tam being soulmates, and was even the one to offer to let Tam stay with them during the night. Keefe suspected it was because they hated each other, and his father would do anything to keep him unhappy.

“To Linh’s. I’m going to bother Sophie for no reason. Bye.” Keefe didn’t wait for his response before grabbing Ro and shouting “Havenfield!”

Sophie had been sitting in front of her mirror as Vertina complimented Dex’s braiding skills as he swept her hair into a flawless Dutch braid bun. Biana was fooling around with Sophie’s iPod as Keefe flopped onto the bed beside her.

“Someone looks depressed,” Sophie called out. “Any reason why?”

“Cuz I’m happy. I’m freaking happy. It’s horrible,” Keefe answered.

Dex shook his head. “You’re making less sense than usual.”

Keefe sighed, “I’m feeling things!”

Biana laughed, “We do be doing that sometimes.”

Burying his head into Sophie’s pillow, he confessed, “I’m so happy I’m the only empath here.”

Apparently he had spoken to soon, cuz Stina emerged from the closet immediately after, stating, “Not so much. And your emotions are particularly strong today, I could feel them from inside the closet.” She sat next to Keefe and propped up her head on her hands, asking, “Who’s giving you the butterfly’s?”

Keefe mentally slapped himself. The whole point of Sophie’s sleepover was for Team Awesomesauce to be together for the weekend assignments that the Council was asking them to do. Of course Stina would be here. He didn’t mind her anymore, but her ability obviously wasn’t in his favor that day.

Biana definitely wasn’t either as she pitched in, “Ooh, maybe it’s Tam!”

Stina laughed, “Tam? Of all people? Why would it be him?”

“Oh you missed it!” Dex answered for her. “Tam and Keefe are soulmates. Since they hate each other so much, they have to hang out a lot more often so their tattoos won’t hurt. It’s great!”

“So Tam’s been spending his nights at The Shores of Solace lately huh? No wonder he’s never there when I go to see Linh,” Stina realized. “I would’ve never expected you to fall for him.”

Keefe resisted the urge to bash his own face in with a hammer as he admitted, “I don’t know if I did. Ro thinks I did. All I really know is that, I don’t mind having Bangs Boy in my bed anymore. I kinda like it.”

His face burned with the confession as Biana beamed and Dex muttered, “I really want to make fun of you right now, but that’s actually so sweet.”

“I have a good feeling you like him,” Stina offered. “Question is, what’s with all the dread you’re feeling?”

“He hates me! It’s not like I can just tell my enemy that I’m in love with him or some shit!” Keefe said, wanting to scream. This was  _ so _ bad.

“Or you could think of it as telling your soulmate, that you sleep with—stop snickering, Dex—that you’re in love with them. Honestly, it was inevitable wasn’t it? That’s the whole point of the tattoos making you have to be together most of the time. To make you fall for each other. He isn’t gonna mad or blame you or anything like that, Keefe. Even if he doesn’t like you (for now) he’ll understand,” Sophie comforted.

She was making a lot of sense, but Keefe’s worries took over anyway. “How can you be sure he won’t hate me more? We’re actually in a good place right now, and since we literally can’t sleep without each other, I don’t wanna ruin that! It’s not like I could just walk away!”

Biana shook her head, “You’re soulmates Keefe. Like Sophie said, it was inevitable. And you shouldn’t be completely sure you’ll be rejected anyway. There’s a good chance he likes you back.”

Keefe chuckled, “As if.”

Dex finished Sophie’s bun and turned toward Keefe. “She’s right. Honestly, I think he likes you. But you can’t be sure till you confess.”

“And when am I supposed to do that?” Keefe asked.

“Let me tell you right now, the ‘perfect moment’ doesn’t exist. Dex and I were crying when we kissed for the first time. It’s the same reason Fitz hasn’t kissed Sophie yet, he’s waiting for the perfect moment. And until he realizes there is none, he’s gonna be a loser,” Biana explained. “You just have to go for it before you lose your nerve. So I’d say tonight. And stop thinking about and second guessing yourself. Or else you’ll end up like Fitz.”

Sophie blushed but didn’t say anything, and Stina nodded along. Biana looked pleased with herself as Keefe nodded, and muttered, “Now I know what pep talk to give Fitz on Monday.”

Keefe spent the rest of the day with them and then headed home, swearing to himself that he wouldn’t chicken out. He even told Ro and made her promise to feed him some ogre bacteria if he didn’t tell Tam that night. Ro had happily agreed.

Keefe walked into his room with his stomach practicing gymnastics to see Tam reading a book on the left side of his—or  _ their _ , at this point—bed. The only words he could form were, “I did something stupid!”

Tam didn’t even bother to look up from his book as he answered, “I’m not surprised.”

Keefe sat down next to him and insisted, “No, really. I did something  _ super  _ dumb.”

Setting down his book and meeting Keefe’s eyes, he responded, “Alright. Tell me about it.”

“So there’s this person who hates my guts. And basically I was thinking thoughts, and I let myself be peer pressured into doing something that would leave me super vulnerable to said person, but now I have to do it or else Ro’s gonna feed me some not-fun bacteria. And I could get very hurt. It could end well, but I’m most likely gonna get very  _ very _ hurt, contrary to popular belief.”

Tam stared at him. “And you want help burying the body or you want me to RickRoll everyone at your funeral? That’s so vague, Keefe.”

“But I can’t say anymore.”

Tam nodded. “Make sure to go for the sides of the throat, melt the knife, and frame Sophie.”

“No,” Keefe laughed. “I’m serious, I don’t know what to do.”

“Well it seems like you don’t have a choice. You’ve gotta do whatever you promised you would do.”

“Yea, alright. But I don’t know how.”

“Just go for it.”

Keefe nodded.  _ Just go for it _ . The words echoed through his head as he held Tam’s questioning gaze. Then he did the only thing he could think of. He leaned in, quickly, and pressed his lips against the shades’.

Tam only realized what was happening when Keefe’s mouth was less than an inch away. Keefe felt Tam’s surprise morph quickly into pleasure and happiness. The shorter boy reached up to mess with Keefe’s perfectly tousled hair. The blonde’s hair had always looked soft, but  _ boy  _ was that an understatement. It was like running your fingers through a cloud in Tam’s opinion. Keefe’s gentle hands reached up and cupped Tam’s check and the back of his neck. Tam melted into his hand, and felt his other hand tug Tam closer. 

They broke apart with the need for air, but their foreheads stayed pressed against each other as they caught their breath. Keefe felt Tam’s doubt and laughed. “This isn’t a joke, Tammy Boy, I swear. I’d give you permission to off me if it was.”

Tam smiled, “So you,  _ like _ like me, as Sophie would put it?”

“Yea,” Keefe smirked. “And judging by that kiss, you like me too.”

Chuckling, Tam answered, “In your dreams Sencen. I wouldn’t say no if you asked me out, but I still don’t like you.”

Keefe beamed, “I’ll take it.” Then he pushed Tam back onto their bed and kissed him again, thinking  _ I could get used to this. _


End file.
